What ‘Emilia Pérez’ can (and can’t) take away from ‘Green Book’s’ controversy-filled road to the Oscar
When the old offensive social media posts by Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón went viral on Thursday, one awards strategist thought of a past Oscar contender who was in a similar situation: Nick Vallelonga. “Did that teach us nothing?” asked the strategist, who spoke to Gold Derby on the condition of anonymity.
Vallelonga is the cowriter and producer of Green Book, which, like Emilia Pérez, was dogged by controversy during its Oscar campaign six years ago. The film — about the real-life story of pianist and composer Don Shirley (Mahershala Ali, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar) and his driver Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga (Vallelonga’s father, played by Viggo Mortensen) during a concert tour in the Deep South in the 1960s — was criticized for perpetuating the “white savior” stereotype. Shirley’s family condemned the musician’s portrayal in the film. Mortensen apologized for using the N-word during a Q&A. Director and cowriter Peter Farrelly apologized after the recirculation of a 1998 Newsweek interview, in which he said he flashes his genitals as a joke. The same week of Farrelly’s controversy — which was days after Green Book won three Golden Globes — a 2015 tweet of Vallelonga’s resurfaced, in which the writer agreed with Donald Trump‘s debunked claim that Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the 9/11 attacks. Vallelonga apologized and deleted his account.
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Like many, the strategist is shocked that no one vetted Gascón’s social media history, which included derogatory comments about Muslims, George Floyd, and diversity at the Oscars, most of which were from the past five years. Gascón, the first openly trans acting Oscar nominee, had also been very active on X this season, frequently clapping back at not just transphobes but critics of Emilia Pérez who have taken issue with the film’s trans and Mexican representation.
Back in 2019, many, especially those online, believed Green Book would be derailed by its myriad controversies, but it went on to win the Producers Guild of America Award and three Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. The internet was not happy, but the film’s recovery proved one thing, the strategist noted.
“Green Book was a lesson of Film Twitter is not real life. Twitter is not real life. And as loud as the uproar [was], it proved to not make a difference in the awards outcomes,” the strategist said, adding that most industry folks and voters are not plugged into the online discourse like fans are.
And those who were “vaguely aware” of it probably did not appreciate being told what to do or how to feel. “I think there are some voters that resent being told what to do by online communities [and] that a movie that they like is something that they shouldn’t like it, and that it’s somehow bad. I think there was a backlash to the backlash in a way,” the strategist continued. “Maybe they saw a couple of trade stories here and there, but it didn’t penetrate their bubble as much as those of us who are chronically online. People were like, ‘What do you mean? I love this movie.'”
Team Emilia Pérez will hope that’s the case for them since the crime musical has already proven itself to be an industry favorite with a leading 13 Oscar nominations, much to the consternation of online circles. But the strategist acknowledges that Gascón’s situation “feels different.” For one, Vallelonga’s misstep was a single tweet, and backing a conspiracy theory looks mild next to Gascón’s hateful and racist rhetoric that shows a consistent pattern of behavior. The tones of their apologies were also different. Vallelonga’s was way more contrite. Gascón’s first one on Thursday was perfunctory. Her lengthier statement on Friday, the same day she deactivated her X account, mostly called out her haters and attackers. That statement “didn’t convince” and “didn’t do her any favors,” the strategist said. Gascón released a third statement on Instagram on Saturday, in which she insisted she is not racist.
Following Vallelonga’s apology, he took a backseat the rest of the campaign, which was easier for Green Book to pull off since Vallelonga was a low-profile writer. “Most people didn’t even know what he looked like,” the strategist pointed out. Gascón, however, is not only a Best Actress nominee playing the title character in Emilia Pérez — a cartel lord who undergoes gender-affirming surgery — but Netflix’s campaign has been mounted on a platform of progressive and inclusive values. The strategist has “no idea” what Netflix will do but predicts that Gascón will likely take a backseat on the trail. She was originally scheduled to attend a Q&A in London for the film on Friday but was absent. At that event, her costar Zoe Salda?a said Gascón’s old posts “makes me really sad because I don’t support [it].”
SEE Zoe Salda?a responds to Karla Sofía Gascón’s offensive social media posts: ‘It makes me sad’
It might also be too early to say how the scandal will affect Emilia Pérez‘s awards prospects. Voting for the PGA Awards closed on Thursday, the same day Gascón’s old tweets circulated. Voting for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, where Emilia Pérez has three nominations, goes through Feb. 21. Final Oscar voting runs Feb. 11-18. The Best Picture Oscar race, as the strategist reminds everyone, was already up in the air before this blew up. “There are a lot of movies that have a path to winning [and] it’ll be a while before we know if this really impacts it, but it does feel grave.”
And it’s human nature to be reactive. Emilia Pérez has dropped in Gold Derby’s Best Picture odds from second place (behind The Brutalist) to fourth since Thursday. Gascón was not favored to win Best Actress and was already in fifth place before this. Salda?a is the Best Supporting Actress frontrunner, and the strategist thinks that won’t change. “I’m not convinced Zoe is sunk by this. I think if you really take a step back and think about it, do you really want to punish this person who’s got nothing to do with any of this?”
Plus, with a month to go before the Oscar ceremony on March 2, who knows what new controversies await us. “But vet socials is the lesson,” the strategist said. “Whether it’s the writer that no one’s heard of or the star of your film.”
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